3+3 And Then

Cellist, composer and MacArthur Fellow Tomeka Reid explores
new improvisational math with 3+3, the third release by her all-star quartet and her most adventurous project as a leader yet.
Featuring Jason Roebke on bass, Tomas Fujiwara on drums,
and fellow MacArthur Fellow Mary Halvorson on guitar.

No artist over the past decade has done more to bring the cello from the margins to the center of the contemporary jazz scene than Tomeka Reid. Nurtured by the creative hothouse of Chicago’s AACM, she’s recorded prolifically since making her debut on flutist Nicole Mitchell’s 2002 Black Earth Ensemble album Afrika Rising. But with 3+3, Reid takes a major step as a composer with a bold and protean approach to designing settings for group improvisation. 



Building on the deeply intuitive language explored by the quartet on her acclaimed Cuneiform debut, 2019’s Old New, Reid set out to explore extended themes. Over the course of three pieces that flow together much like a set the group plays in concert, the album captures the state-of-the-art ensemble moving with unhurried grace, constantly calibrating the evolving conversation.